What had she ever done before? Had safe relationships and not even very many of them. She had chosen boyfriends on all the right grounds: compatibility, kindness, friendship.
This man was neither compatible, kind nor her friend and, even if she weren’t sharp enough to have sussed that for herself, his background spoke volumes. A life strewn with women who had stepped off the front covers of magazines, dismissive of commitment, driven but for reasons she had never valued.
Nick drew back and looked down at her. ‘One last chance,’ he said thickly.
‘For what?’ She knew exactly what he was talking about.
‘For decision-making. When morning comes, I don’t want to be accused of taking advantage of you.’
‘I would never do that.’
‘You misunderstand. We both go to your bedroom with our eyes wide open or tell me now to leave.’ And what would he do? Nick thought. Have another cold shower? Go for a swim in the sea? Switch on his computer and hope that numbers, reports and figures would distract him from the thought of her separated by the thickness of a wall?
He had never been in this position before, at the mercy of a woman, and he had to restrain himself from the indignity of trying to persuade her into the decision he wanted her to make.
Rose felt his body hard against hers. What choice did she have? Common sense was a plane-flight away. For now…it was time to be mad.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THIS was as overwhelming as the first fantasies of a teenage boy, although Nick was careful not to mention that to Rose. His body didn’t fail to remind him of the fact, though, as he led her into the bedroom and onto the wide, king-sized bed, still rumpled from where she had been lying, with a gap in the mosquito net through which she had slipped out, presumably on her way to the veranda.
His loose cotton trousers couldn’t begin to hide the urgency of his erection, but he was going to take his time, make love to her slowly and thoroughly.
‘Are you sure about this?’ He parted the mosquito net and looked to where she was sitting primly on the side of the bed.
‘Yes, you’re right. Everyone needs a little madness in their lives now and again.’
‘In which case, why do you look scared to death?’
Rose flushed and looked away quickly. ‘Do I?’
Nick, on the verge of slipping off the trousers, hesitated and then joined her on the bed, pulling the mosquito net behind him so that they were now enclosed in a little cocoon of their own. He might have, in the past, made the usual traditionally romantic gestures, sent the flowers, bought the expensive meals and the expensive tokens to go with the meals, but he was not essentially a romantic man. This, however, felt romantic and she looked the part. Eyes wide, mouth parted, hands clutching at the transparent nightgown.
‘You do,’ he said solemnly. ‘What are you afraid of? Haven’t we both established that we…want the same thing?’ He reached out with one hand and trailed his finger along her jaw line, then down to where her fingers were closed tightly around the shimmering, light material. ‘You needn’t worry. I’ll be gentle.’ Just talking about it was sending his normally cool, controlled nervous system through the roof.
‘You don’t understand…’
‘You’re not a virgin, are you?’
‘Of course not,’ Rose said indignantly, although she was guiltily aware that she really only managed to sneak into the experienced category by the skin of her teeth.
‘Care to tell me about them?’
‘No.’
Nick laughed. ‘No need to look so shocked, Rose.’
‘I suppose you do…this sort of thing all the time, don’t you?’
‘Sleep with women? I’m a red blooded male, Rose.’
‘No, I mean…Look, what I’m trying to say is that I’m not very daring in bed, Nick.’ Rose cleared her throat and looked at him defiantly. ‘You can go ahead and laugh now, but that’s the way it is. I haven’t spent a lifetime hopping in and out of beds with men.’
‘I like that,’ Nick murmured. Surprisingly, he really did, although he couldn’t say that he had encountered the situation before. Some of the women he had slept with were bolder than he was.
‘Furthermore…’
‘Furthermore?’ He couldn’t help himself. He leant towards her and planted a kiss on the side of her neck and he felt her shiver against him.
‘I…you’re not…’ She wished he wouldn’t look at her like that, giving her his undivided attention. ‘You’re…not the sort of guy…I mean, Lily normally…well, girls like Lily…’